US could become a top 10 oil exporter in three years

U.S. oil production is booming. The next step: conquering the export market.

Increased shale production will transform the U.S. into one of the world's top oil exporters in just a few years, according to a new forecast by the consultancy PIRA Energy Group.

PIRA estimates that American crude exports will grow to 2.25 million barrels a day by 2020, a four-fold increase from 2016.

The boom would put the U.S. in roughly the same league as major oil exporters including the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

"In the years ahead, these developments position the U.S. to potentially be one of the 10 largest exporters of crude oil in the world," wrote analyst Jenna Delaney.

The major increase in supply would further undermine the strength of OPEC, which was exporting an average of 25 million barrels a day in 2016.

Saudi Arabia topped the cartel's list of exporters last year, sending of 7.5 million barrels abroad each day.

The U.S. vaulting into the top ranks of exporters would have been unthinkable even a few years ago....

This has strategic implications far beyond OPEC. It acts as a counterweight to the Russian oil business and creates a more dependable supply for US allies in Europe and elsewhere. As important as the oil exports from the US are, the export of LNG to Europe may be of greater importance by becoming an alternative supplier to Russia which has used its market dominance to extort European countries.

"It continues. Have seen gunships firing and heard much activity in the last few hours."...
The Iraqi claim is plausible. It is just the kind of thing that could be expected from ISIS forces. ISIS is in a desperate fight and appears willing to pull down all those around them as they lose.

Some injuries were reported and more than a dozen people were arrested after opposing sides clashed at dueling pro- and anti-Trump rallies, Berkeley, Calif., police said.
The liberals engage in projection by calling Trump supporters fascists, when it is in fact, their supporters who are sparking the violence in Califonia. There is a strain of intolerance for other points of view that is enforced by people dressed in black and their faces covered. They physically attack Trump supporters or other conservatives. These people may wear black but the are the Brownshirts of liberal fascism.

Fuel Fix:
OPEC producers took another 153,000 barrels a day off the market in March as part of its bid to drain the world’s oil glut.

In the cartel’s monthly report released Wednesday, independent sources reported the group of oil-producing countries has cut output by 1.1 million barrels a day since December.

Last month, Libya’s output dropped by nearly 9 percent, and production edged lower in the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Nigeria, Iran, Angola and other countries. Saudi Arabia raised production by 41,000 barrels a day.

That effort has pushed oil prices above $50 a barrel in recent months, breathing life into U.S. oil patches like the Permian Basin. U.S. crude rose 16 cents on Wednesday to $53.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, as traders reacted to media reports that Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s de facto leader, wants to see OPEC continue production cuts into the second half of this year.

But even as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries works to slow…